When I see the ocean in the distance, the wreaths in the hair, and the nonchalant, effortless beauty portrayed in the paintings of Victorian artist Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, I can literally feel the sun and smell the flowers on the breeze. I wanted to take you all with me to this Earthly Paradise, from the gowns to the styling of the show. Of course there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes…Heaven wasn’t created in a day, right?!

Fabrics to drape, embellishments to design, cookies to bake (yes, those are cookies!), programs to paint, and chai tea lattes to drink…some very talented collaborators joined me in this process, and crafted quite an experience for our guests.

We created our own “painting” for the backdrop, combining petals, sea and sky, and continued the illusion with the addition of over 100,000 rose petals. When the massive canvas was unfurled during NY market week, and we began to scatter the petals on the runway the morning of the show, even I was amazed (and thrilled) with how perfectly our blank slate was transformed!

Hair and make-up were key in fashioning our modern goddesses, and I made these wreaths for each model while casting at the hotel (nothing like a little multi-tasking!) We even enlisted a few gorgeous immortals to escort our guests to their seats…and of course I made wreaths for them too!

Finally it’s time to welcome our guests with champagne flowing, programs ready on the chairs, models dressed, and a final word of direction before they cue the music, and the whole thing is over in about 15 minutes! Literally 6 months of preparation to make it all happen…kind of like a wedding!